This invention relates to a process for continuously, effectively and safely treating volatile, radioactive iodine evolving from atomic power stations by adsorption.
With a considerable increase in number of construction of atomic power stations in these years, an amount of radioactive iodine discharged to the atmosphere is increasing year by year, and a hazard of the discharged radioactive iodine upon the human bodies becomes very serious. Even a small amount of the discharged radioactive iodine must be prevented from absorption into the human bodies.
Heretofore, vent gas lines of machinery and apparatus of atomic power station have been connected to a ventilating and air conditioning duct, and the vent gas has been discharged to the atmosphere from a stack without any treatment. Thus, an exposure of the volatile, radioactive iodine present in the air to human beings and animals has not been prevented. Atomic power stations are provided with emergency gas treating apparatus for removing radioactive iodine contained in the vent gas in the housing of nuclear reactor at a nuclear reactor accident, but such apparatus are only for emergency purpose, and are not possible to operate in a prolonged period of time continuously. Thus, it is not preferable from the standpoints of safety and reliability to utilize such apparatus in the normal operation. That is, such apparatus are impossible to regenerate and operate continuously, and thus an adsorption column of large longitudinal dimension is required. These are the disadvantages inherent in such apparatus. Thus, an art of continuously and effectively removing the radioactive iodine has been desired.